God's Story

During our lives there are numerous times we call out to God with a prayer. Some do it out of a jest, most others do it out of earnestness especially when they are going through a difficulty they cannot overcome with out him. They pray for guidance and they pray for answers. Most followers of Christ know that God doesn't answer in the time we would like him to, but that His answers always have perfect timing whether we'd like to admit it, or not. Then we see the benefits of waiting, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31  
     Occasionally there are impatient people that don't like to wait for God's answer and they make a decision out of frustration, which can cause unfortunate consequences. It is my belief that most Christians are guilty of this, heck I've done it myself more times than I care to count. We are human and as Tom Petty famously sang, "The Waiting is the hardest part", this especially applies to when we are hoping to get the answer we want. Or is it the hardest part?

About that...

It's no secret I'm a huge geek. I love science fiction, fantasy, comic book character, etc. When I was young, like a lot of other boys and girls, I fell in love with the original Star Wars trilogy. The story, the light sabers, the force, the toys, Princess Leia. Then nerds around the world got wind that the mighty George Lucas was finally going to make the prequel trilogy. Before we knew the Episode 1 hits theaters! Everyone was stoked, people camped out for tickets, dressed up in full costume at the premier, my brother in-law and sister brought my 9 months old niece to the theater, cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria! Woo hoo! right? Right?.....Right.....? Anyone? (Audience is silent, man in back row coughs)

No, no, no, no, NO!

 

 

     This was NOT the movie I was looking for. This was not the answer I was looking for after waiting years for this to come out. This was not what I thought had been promised to me as a loyal fan. I thought I did everything right as a fan. I watched all the movies, bought the special edition films, played with the toys, pretend to be Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett and this is what I get? Jar Jar freaking Binks? What!?!

 

     I think you get the picture of what I'm trying to say. Sometimes we have to wait and we deal with it, we do what we think we're suppose to do. Go to church, sing songs, love your neighbors as yourselves, yada yadda yadda. Then God gives you an answer. An answer where you question if anything you did, or all the time you spent praying was even worth it. You may feel like Moses did while he was leading the Israelites through the desert, "If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now...[sic].” Numbers 11:15

Pretty rough right? Although, that had more to do with the fact that people were complaining so much to him about only eating Manna and basically asking "Where's the beef?" But still, we feel like that when we get an answer we don't like, or when we think God isn't listening. 

 

     Speaking of complain-y Israelites, that leads me to my next point. They spent a lot of time doing just that, forgetting the fact that God delivered them out of Slavery and had promised them a land that flows with milk and honey. Sometimes we can get blinded by our resentment that it transforms in to something ugly and we start to blame our problems on anything we can get our hands on even if it doesn't make sense. Sometimes we take it out on each other and blame each other for why we can't have the things we asked God for. I remember when the Phantom Menace was released and people were soooo ticked off. Overly ticked off. Yes, Jar Jar Binks was pretty lame, but people crossed the line when they started to blame the entire movie's failure on a 9 year old. Jake Lloyd got so much undue flak over the years just because he wasn't the best 9 year actor on the face of the planet. He was 9 for crying out loud! How about you realize the actual reason the movie stank, for example George Lucas' obsession with special effects and green screens!

 

    Do we have a right to complain about Star Wars? Who's story was is it after all? It was George Lucas' story. He made it they way he wanted to. He "wrote" it the way he wanted it to. We asked him for years to make another trilogy and he teased us for years about making another trilogy until after a long wait he finally did. We had all of these expectations and then we were let down by a lackluster story, but it was still George Lucas' story not ours and it was Just something we had to get over. So I ask again do we really have the right to complain over the prequel series? The short answer to this is yes. That is because you spent all this time, money and energy on waiting for a promise made by a man who people thought would take his fans into consideration and he ultimately didn't. He placed a higher value on what he could do with a computer instead of actors or a story. A story that showed promise 20-30 years ago.

 

    Now, do we have the right to complain about an answer to prayer that we get, which we don't particularly like? After all the time we spent praying, going to church, fasting, being a good person, as if all of those things will guarantee you'll get the answer you want? The answer is a resounding no. Here's why. Once you commit your life to God through Jesus Christ, you forfeit your own story for God's. God is using you to bring His kingdom to the world and His story is better than yours. His story is better than the plans you had for yourself and we need to remember that. We need to remember that God is perfect in all the things that He does, unlike George Lucas who is a human being and falls short just like the rest of us. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8-9

 

     Also people tend to forget that God isn't going to saddle you with an answer you can't handle. People tend to forget that hey, "I can ask God to help me deal with this answer", and that is something that He will definitely do. We complain anyways sometimes, even though the Bible tells us that we should do all things without grumbling. We grumbled so long about Star Wars and this is what George Lucas had to say about more Star Wars movies "Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?" , and then he went and sold it to a company people compare to the Empire. Disney.

 

     Could you imagine if we had a God who gave up on us because we complain too much? I don't know if I want to imagine something like that. Thankfully we have a God who gave us a new covenant through His son. Thankfully we have a God who always gives us what we need even if we can't see it at that time. Thankfully we have a God that can carry us through anything. It's difficult waiting sometimes, but just remember the reward. It's hard not to complain about an answer we don't like, but just remember God will give us the grace to handle it. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" Heb 4:16